Writing Process

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Transcript of Writing Process

The Writing Process Prewriting/Brainstorming Rough Drafting Revising Editing Final Draft Pre-Writing refers to all of those things that you do before you actually start writing. Technically, when you wake up in the middle of the night with an inspiration, that's "pre-writing". However, it's a little hard to prove to your teacher that you have been pre-writing in your sleep! Here are some ways you can organize your thoughts:

Draw a picture.Make an outline.Make a list of all the things you can think of pertaining to your topic or story.Use a semantic map. (Compare and Contrast, for example)Make a collage out of magazine and newspaper photos.Brainstorm with a partner, or with your class. This is actually writing the first draft of the piece. Keep in mind that this is just a first attempt. It is not completed.

Consider: The first time you traveled to some far away spot you were able to get there, but the traveling was difficult.You may have gotten lost, or at least confused. The second time you went was probably much better. You were less likely to get lost and the trip was more productive. Each time you went was better than the times before. The same is true of writing. Many students believe that revision is about correcting grammar, spelling and mechanics. While these things are important, revision is primarily concerned with making the ideas clearer. Revision might call for the writer to eliminate sentences, paragraphs or even pages in order to make a piece clearer. Revision might call for a writer to add sentences, paragraphs or even pages. When someone tells you to "wear your Sunday best", what does that mean? Instead of your normal jeans and tennies, you wear a nice outfit with nice shoes, right? (Look how nice and presentable I am!) You make sure your hair is combed, your teeth brushed. You might even wear a nicer watch, jewelry, or a tie. You want to look presentable! In these steps you are looking for ways to improve your paper. In revising, unlike proofreading, you are not looking for grammatical and spelling errors. You are looking at how your paper flows. Are you connecting with your reader? Editing means many things to many people. But here it means only one thing: taking care of any problems you have with writing conventions like spell- ing, punctuation, grammar, and usage. You can make mi- nor changes to the content of your piecea word here, a phrase therebut if you want to make bigger chang- es, go back to the Revising stage. The Writing Process Stage Five Editing is hard because there a lot of things you need to know in order to do it wellmore things than you can learn in any one year of school.

To edit for spelling you have to know many words and be able to use a dictionary.

To edit for punctuation you have to understand how to use every type of punctuation your writing needs. Always present your final draft in your best handwriting or typed whenever possible. After you finish editing and correcting your writing, you must make sure it looks great! Nobody wants to read something that looks terrible or is hard to read. The final copy should be:

Neat - either type it on a computer or use your very best handwriting. Also, no wrinkles, holes or tears in the paper. Clean - no dirty smudge marks or other blotches, or smeared ink. Visible - the font should be large enough to read, but not so large that it takes up the whole page and looks silly.